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G. A. SWEET April 6, 1937;

LAST

Filed June 5, 1936 Patented Apr. 6, 1937 LAST George A. Sweet, Milford,Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., acorporation of New Jersey Application June 5, 1936, Serial No. 83,706 r3 Claims.

This invention refers to shoemaking lasts.

Its principal object is to provide a simple, cheap and practicalcollapsible last having a metallic heel part and a wooden forepart. Anall metal last generally of the type herein illustrated is shown anddescribed in the application of George F. Ryan, Serial No. 3,751, filedJanuary 28, 1935.

Some shoe manufacturers, however, desire to retain the advantages of awooden forepart as well as to obtain those of a metallic heel part. The

wooden forepart is lighter, cheaper, and can be made to accommodate thepoints of lasting tacks more conveniently than a metallic forepart. Inthe manufacture of rubber shoes, for which the illustrated last isespecially intended, it is of considerable importance to maintain asmooth shoe-shaping surface under the entire shoe upper since anyfailure in this respect will cause an ineradicable malformation in theultimately vulcanized rubber material of the upper. Wooden foreparts ofcollapsible lasts have a very sharp angle at their rear upper edges andafter some use become more or less chipped at these edges, thus marringthe shoe-forming surface of the 5 19.815.

In order to avoid this difficulty I have, in accordance with the presentinvention, provided a wooden last forepart having a metallic guard plateon its rear joint-forming surface. The

30 rear surface of the guard plate forms the joint with the heel partand the edges of the plate are shaped to form a continuous shoe-shapingsurface with the adjacent surfaces of the heel part and the forepart.

Conveniently, and in accordance with another feature of the invention,the guard plate is bonded to the forepart by the same bonding mechanismas holds the heel part and forepart of the last together, thus providinga cheap and 40 amply strong construction.

These and other features of the invention comprising certaincombinations and arrangements of parts will be apparent from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment of the inven- 5 tionshown in the drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal verticalcross-section of the last;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the forepart; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bonding mechanism.

The heel part ll] of the illustrated last is hollow and formed of castmetal; it is open in front, at [2, and has a pin l4 mounted in holes inits side walls. The pin l4 carries a pivoted toggle plate l6 which isoperable by means of rack teeth I8 55 by a rack inserted in a hole inthe upper surface of the heel part. The plate I6 carries a pivot pin 22on the ends of which are mounted toggle links 24 each having on itsupper side a deep notch 26 to accommodate the pin l4. The front ends ofthelinks 24 are pivoted by means of slots 21 on a pin 28 mounted in theend 30 of a lag screw 32 which is set in the forepart 34.

The parts so far described (except the lag screw) are like thecorresponding parts of the last illustrated in the Ryan applicationabove referred to, and operate similarly. The rotation of the plate Itcounterclockwise (Fig. l) throws down the links 24 and breaks thetoggle, leaving the heel part It) and forepart 34 sufficiently loose topermit rotation of the heel part upward to collapse the last.

The joint surface between the heel part and forepart is formed as anobtuse dihedral angle. On the heel part the front edges at l2 are planeand, as shown, intersect in a horizontal line at an obtuse angle. Thejoint surface on the forepart is formed by a similarly shaped plate 36,which fits closely the heel part edges at l2. The plate 36 nests into asimilar obtuse-angled depression 38 in the wooden forepart 34. The plate36 has a forwardly projecting hollow boss 40, which is inserted in asuitable countersunk hole in the forepart 34. The inside bottom surfaceof the hollow boss 43 forms a seat for a flange 42 between the ends ofthe screw 32. Thus the insertion of the screw 32 into a previouslydrilled hole 44 in the wooden forepart 34 will bind the plate 36 firmlyto the forepart. The thread of the screw 32 is of a pitch suificientlyfine so that the necessity of setting the end 30 vertical will notunduly damage the inside of the hole 44.

The edge surface of the plate 36 forms a smooth surface with theadjacent surfaces of the heel part .and forepart, and the plate isprovided with two notches 46, 48 to fit two ribs 50, 52 on the frontsurface of the heel part to facilitate the proper fitting together ofthe heel part and forepart when they are drawn together by the toggleI6, 24.

While the forepart and its guard plate 36 are firmly held together, they.can easily be separated in order to provide the last with a newforepart, which may be of the same or of a different style.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A collapsible shoe last having a heel part and .a forepart, the jointsurface between said parts being formed by two planes intersecting in ahorizontal line and forming a dihedral angle which is convex forwardly,a guard plate mounted on the forepart and shaped to fit the saiddihedral angle on both the forepart and 5 the heel part, a bonding screwmounted in the forepart and having a head clamping said guard platefirmly to said forepart, and a releasable tension mechanism connectingthe head of said screw to said heel part, to permit collapse of 10 thelast.

2. A collapsible shoe last having a heel part and a forepart, a screw inthe forepart, a pin in the heel part, a toggle mechanism joining the pinand the head of the screw to hold the 15 heel part and forepart togetherin operative position, and a guard plate interposed between the heelpart and the forepart and having a seat projecting into the for'epart,said screw having a flange seated upon said seat to clamp.

20 the guard plate to the forepart.

bind said plate firmly to said forepart, and a releasable tensionmechanism connecting said screw to said heel part, the edges of saidplate and the adjacent surfaces of said heel part and forepart forming acontinuous shoe-shaping surface.

GEORGE A. SWEET.

